Huayu 2021: Isn’t he in the technology field?

Chapter 208 The entertainment industry is in a panic: cooperation or confrontation?
Inside the Tsinghua University auditorium, Jiang Qing's words were like a pebble thrown into a lake, causing all six hundred seats to gasp simultaneously.

"Does Dr. Jiang mean that in the future, AI will be able to directly generate a complete movie?"

The veins on the back of the hand of the boy in the Pikachu onesie gripping the light board were bulging, and the words "Please help me with my graduation project" on the light board were trembling.

Jiang Qing spun the laser pointer, the red dot sweeping across the shocked faces below the stage, and smiled smugly.

"Maybe?"

"Dr. Jiang!"

The girl in the front row who was wearing glasses suddenly stood up, and her laptop slammed to the ground.

She didn't bother to pick them up, and braced herself against the back of the seat in front of her, her expression agitated.

"Are you saying that in the future, film crews may no longer need to use live actors?"

The entire lecture hall seemed to be paused. Even Qiu Yong, who had just raised his thermos to his lips, froze in mid-air, staring intently at Jiang Qing, waiting for his answer.

The little figure made of drones outside the window suddenly froze, comically remaining in a one-legged standing position.

Jiang Qing bent down and picked up the ginkgo leaf that had rolled to the edge of the podium. The leaf twirled between his fingers.

"Currently, AI-generated virtual avatars cannot match the sophistication of live performances, but what about five years from now? Ten years from now?"

He tapped the laser pointer, and the electronic screen behind him suddenly changed, showing two virtual avatars generated by code starting to act out a scene.

On the left, a man in a suit is reciting "Hamlet" with great emotion, while on the right, a girl in a school uniform is performing a scene from "Dream of the Red Chamber" where flowers are buried.

"This is the result of our Wuwen Technology team's experiment last month."

Jiang Qing smiled and tapped the screen.

"Although his expression is still a bit stiff, he has already passed the second stage of the Turing test."

The whole place was in an uproar!

The live stream screen was suddenly flooded with colorful bullet comments.

"Holy crap, this virtual human is a better actor than me!"

"Are extras going to lose their jobs??"

"What did I do wrong that I just got into the Central Academy of Drama?!"

"Jiang Shen, delete it quickly! Don't let the investors see it!"

……

Panic began to spread in the live chat.

When the number of people online at any given time exceeded 4.5 million, all five of the top trending topics on Weibo turned red.

The trend of "entertainment industry collective insomnia"
"AI Actor Turing Test" Explodes
"Freshmen at three major universities collectively break down"
"Escape from Death in the Entertainment Industry"
"Technology may eliminate the entertainment industry in the future"
……

The entire entertainment industry is in an uproar!

Renowned screenwriter Wang Hailin posted three Weibo posts within three minutes.

"If an algorithm could write a version of 'Farewell My Concubine,' I'd swallow my keyboard on the spot!"

Does AI understand the weight of a promise made for a lifetime, where even a year, a day, or an hour less doesn't matter?

"If you're going to work on artificial intelligence, then work on artificial intelligence. Why are you getting involved in the entertainment industry?"

The accompanying image is his treasured handwritten manuscript of "Living," with the edges of the paper curled and rough.

Director Chen Kaige seized the opportunity and followed up with a post on Weibo.

"Back when film transitioned to digital, some people cried out that cinema was dead, but now great works are still being produced, aren't they? True artists are irreplaceable."

He remembered clearly how Jiang Qing had shown him no respect last time.

In that case, he won't be polite.

Actor Zhang Yi posted a photo of his "cliffhanger" makeup on Weibo, saying, "Performance is forged with blood and sweat. Can AI simulate the pain of festering wounds?"

Before the onlookers could even figure out what was going on, Yu Zheng's Weibo account was suddenly updated.

"Performance is the resonance of the soul; AI will never be able to decipher the tea stains in the cracks between the floor tiles of Lao She's Teahouse."

The accompanying illustration is a yellowed copy of "An Actor Prepares," with a ticket stub from the 98 film "Thunderstorm" tucked between the pages.

This Weibo post instantly triggered a chain reaction.

Director Wu Ershan posted a photo of the script covered in revisions: "A close-up shot of an eye that was revised 32 times, can you even count the numbers?"

Director Lu Chuan posted: "Those who work in science and technology will never understand what film art is."

Zhang Yimou rarely makes such statements: "Artistic creation needs humanistic warmth, and AI cannot even understand the emotional layers of cinematic language."

The Writers Guild of America issued an emergency joint statement, citing 2020 box office data to emphasize: "What audiences are paying for in 'The Wandering Earth' is human imagination, not algorithmic permutations and combinations."

A verified Weibo account, identified as a "film and television art director," posted a sarcastic comment: "Let a programmer teach Cheung Suk-ping how to design costumes?"

Interestingly, the Tsinghua University Human-Computer Interaction Lab account suddenly reposted courseware, along with award-winning examples of AI-generated landscape paintings from 2019.

These counterattacks quickly sparked the topic of "AI doesn't understand acting," with readership skyrocketing to millions per minute.

The official Weibo account of the Central Academy of Drama posted a wall of alumni since the school's founding, the Beijing Film Academy uploaded a video of the acting department's morning practice, and even extras in Hengdian spontaneously organized a "Never Give Up in Real-Life Performance" check-in activity.

The person who suddenly became a viral sensation on Douyin was a young man from out of town working in Beijing, dressed in a food delivery uniform.

He showed the camera his calloused hands.

"These hands of mine have handled 3852 takeout orders, and they've also carried coffins and been slapped in 136 films. Can AI calculate the temperature of a takeout meal?"

This video quickly surpassed two million likes.

Meanwhile, in the conference room at the headquarters of Kiwi Fruit in Beijing.

All of Kiwi's core senior management were present, and Gong Yu personally chaired the meeting. Jiang Qing's live broadcast was playing on the large screen in the conference room.

"Immediately activate the AI ​​script screening mechanism! Send someone to contact Wuwen Technology, start with an ancient costume drama as a test, and find two new screenwriters as a front."

"Mr. Gong, we have heard that Tencent has been in contact with Wuwen Technology about this since last month."

The secretary whispered a reminder, and the meeting room immediately erupted into a noisy argument.

"Penguins are really quick!"

Gong Yu's face was gloomy, his mind was racing, and then his eyes suddenly lit up.

He suddenly realized that one of their dramas was produced by people personally placed there by Jiang Qing.

His name is Tian... what was it again?

Scene from the Tsinghua University Auditorium.

Jiang Qing took out her vibrating phone, and a new message notification from Chen Duling flashed on the lock screen.

"You've been preparing all this for a while now?"

He smiled almost imperceptibly, looking up towards the southeast, where a sycamore leaf was just brushing past the window frame. "Let's look at it from a different angle."

Jiang Qing placed her phone face down on the podium and began to speak, drawing the attention of the audience.

"When AI can mass-produce scripts and films that meet or exceed the acceptable standard, what should humans do?"

He used a laser pointer to bring up two data comparison charts: the left side showed the three-month writing cycle of a traditional screenwriter, while the right side showed the weekly report of a human screenwriter under AI assistance.

"As you can see, with the intervention of AI, the screenwriter's work efficiency is obvious, and the time saved can be used to conduct research, experience life, and polish truly moving details."

Jiang Qing's laser pointer froze on the big screen, and the classic Hamlet line "To be or not to be" was replaced with "To cooperate or to fight."

"Twenty years ago, digital cameras did not kill the art of photography; instead, they gave birth to Instagram."

He flicked the microphone with his finger, and his clear voice startled the dazed crowd.

"Once we teach AI to understand the three-act structure, we may be able to free up resources to study how to create an eighth act."

Applause suddenly erupted from the first row.

Academician Yao Qizhi adjusted his glasses, stood up, and looked around.

"Last year, our team used AI to screen experimental data, and the time saved allowed us to discover a new phenomenon of quantum entanglement."

He turned to look at the young man on the stage.

"Technology will always need a helmsman."

Jiang Qing smiled and nodded in greeting.

"Academician Yao is right, this is the future."

Jiang Qing's laser pointer aperture was locked onto the four words "Collaborative Creation" on the big screen.

"Just as color film did not kill photographers and digital technology did not end the art of film, AI will not make creators unemployed, but it will completely change the way we create."

At this moment, in the lecture hall where ginkgo leaves are falling, more than 600 pairs of eyes are focused on the young man on the stage.

"Change never stops because of opposition, but dies because of stagnation."

As the sound faded, applause erupted like thunder, accompanied by a continuous stream of camera shutter clicks.

The live stream chat was flooded with "Jiang Shen is awesome", so densely packed that it almost covered the entire screen.

Once the atmosphere calmed down again, Jiang Qing smiled and steered the conversation back to the main topic, continuing to explain the remaining two modes.

By the time we finished discussing all four modes, the sunlight outside the window had turned golden-red.

Jiang Qing walked past Jiang Nan, raised her hand and tapped her on the head. The girl immediately put down the potato chips in her hand, with crumbs still on her lips, and put her hands on her knees, looking obedient.

A burst of good-natured laughter rang out.

Jiang Qing glared at her and casually adjusted her headset.

"In the past year, many of the most revolutionary technological changes have been driven by artificial intelligence, which has brought unprecedented creativity."

"These are just things that are bound to happen, and if artificial intelligence develops emotional attributes in the future, it may seem unbelievable to many more people."

Back on the stage, Jiang Qing turned around and faced the audience, leaning on the podium.

A gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd.

"Dr. Jiang, so can artificial intelligence really develop emotions?"

A boy wearing glasses in the front row eagerly raised his hand to ask a question.

"First of all, I can tell you that AI will definitely develop emotional attributes."

Jiang Qing looked at him and gave an answer with a confident tone.

The scene erupted in uproar, and Yao Qizhi and others present subconsciously squinted their eyes.

"Before discussing this topic, we first need to understand why AI can develop emotional attributes."

The sudden shift in topic caused many people to unconsciously lean forward.

What would happen if artificial intelligence developed emotions?

This is also an extremely sensitive topic.

No one expected that Jiang Qing would bring up such sensitive topics repeatedly today.

Jiang Qing's relaxed smile remained unchanged.

"First of all, dialogue is a natural expression of human communication. People unconsciously bring in emotions. Even when facing AI, we will use this primitive emotion. AI can sense the transmission of primitive emotions through your language and facial expressions."

"For example, if it sees your gaze, it will know that you are distracted, or it will sense a change in your emotions through changes in your tone of voice."

"It reads and processes human information, such as emotions like love, joy, fear, worry, and surprise, while expressing language."

"Humans have a strong emotional bond with pets, such as dogs or cats. In the future, they may have an even stronger bond with artificial intelligence, which will be like a talking dog."

"You can imagine that if your dog could talk in a language you can understand, the bond between you and it would be even stronger, so this will be a trend in future technological development."

At this point, many people in the audience looked enlightened.

Jiang Qing's narration was easy to understand, even for viewers in the live chat.

Having taken in the reactions of the audience, Jiang Qing continued to escalate the situation.

"Although many people may feel uncomfortable at first, as emotional embedding technology develops, you will find that this sense of connection exceeds your expectations."

"As we discussed earlier, there are many types of AI, and they may have different personalities. You need to find an AI that you get along with."

"In the past few years, our artificial intelligence research has been based on neural network technology, which has a 50-year development foundation."

"So far, we have essentially created an artificial brain capable of various cognitive processes. However, our development of neural networks is currently very limited, and we still have a long way to go in the future."

"Many AI experts believe that it is impossible for humans to cover all application scenarios with a single technology. In addition to neural networks, we can also add technologies such as fuzzy logic and rule-based judgment."

"We are currently in the early stages of artificial intelligence development, and there are still some aspects of AI that are yet to be developed. Perhaps thirty years from now, when future generations look back on 2021, they will feel that the AI ​​technology of 2021 was not even AI. Of course, that's a question for the future, and current AI experts would also think the same way when looking back."

"AI is still in its infancy. No one can predict what its development path will be in the next 30 years."

"But at least for now, these analyses can help us better plan for the future. AI can help us determine where AI is doing well and where humans are doing well. At the same time, it can also analyze what we hope humans will do, helping us to better understand reality and clarify our path."

"Our ultimate goal is to believe that these AIs can help humans become better people."

Pausing there, Jiang Qing looked at the faces below the stage, still absorbed in his story, and placed the laser pointer on the podium.

"Thank you all for listening patiently. That concludes my presentation for today."

He smiled and waved to the audience.

The moment the voice fell, the entire auditorium seemed to be muted for 0.5 seconds, and then a burst of applause swept through the entire hall like a tsunami.

A cacophony of gasps and applause rose and fell among the six hundred seats, creating a deafening roar. Shouts of "Jiang Shen" rang out from the crowd before gradually settling into unison.

And all of these scenes were clearly recorded by the camera.

(End of this chapter)